Rebel Well: Healthcare

by

Heather Corinna & s.e smith

INSURANCE

If you don’t know what kind of insurance you have and what it covers (or if you have it at all), ask your parents, or call the member services number on your insurance card to get information. Your insurer should provide you with a brief description of benefits that quickly reviews what is covered and the amount of your copay. You are also entitled to view your actual health insurance contract, which includes a detailed summary of benefits. If you have a specific question (“Which doctor can I use?” “What is my copay for non-specialist doctor’s visits?”) you can ask. Your insurer is currently required to cover a minimum of one preventative care visit a year, and at least one sample of every major birth control method (pills, implants, IUDs, etc.) must be available for free.

Changes to the health coverage through the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”), Medicaid, and Medicare are unlikely to set in before 2018 or 2019, although we will see substantial activity in Congress in 2017. Until we know exactly what’s going to happen, it’s hard to know how best to prepare, but it is wise to assume you may lose some or all of your health care coverage. Take advantage of the coming months to get all your routine examinations and testing done, get fitted with a long-acting reversible contraceptive if that applies to you, and stock up on medications and supplies. Request “vacation fills” from your care provider so your pharmacy can override medication limits, and if necessary, call around to find a pharmacy that carries your meds in bulk. Because others are also racing to do this, it may be you can only get an appointment weeks or even months from now: make that appointment anyway. If you’re in school and about to graduate, take advantage of student health while you can! If you aren’t currently insured, explore your options, which may include a state or federal healthcare exchange, private insurance, or joining a parent’s insurance policy if you are under 25.

If at any point you lose health coverage or your plan is drastically modified: Community clinics — including free and low-cost clinics for the public at colleges, teaching hospitals and nursing schools — can be an excellent resource for basic health care needs. Some public health departments also operate clinics that may offer services you can use. If you are LGBQT, check up on clinics before going. Those affiliated with the Catholic Church may be hostile and unwilling to meet your health care needs, and other organizations may also have a history of LGBQT discrimination. (Try Googling for the name of the clinic and “controversy” or “LGBQT” to see what comes up.) You may also be able to obtain low-cost catastrophic insurance that will cover major accidents, though not preventative care and day-to-day health issues, and it will include a high deductible.

Talk to your doctor’s office now about what will happen if you lose your insurance or your insurer refuses to cover some services. Paying cash can be expensive, but some doctors’ offices offer discounts to cash patients or are willing to help with payment plans.

SEXUAL HEALTHCARE

Get current with your STI screenings and general sexual healthcare and ask any sexual partners to do so as well. These services may become more costly, more spare or harder to access. In addition, if you or a partner have an STI, treatment as soon as possible not only is always a good idea, it’s ever more important when healthcare may become more difficult to access or more costly, particularly for serious infections like HIV or complications like cervical cancer. Get up to date with your vaccinations now, too, including for HPV and Hepatitis.

With sexual healthcare services — including STI diagnostics and treatment — potentially becoming harder to access or less affordable, safer sex is all the more important. If you and your partners don’t already use barriers to reduce the risk of STIs, now is a very good time to take that more seriously and start.

If you or your sexual partners can become pregnant and you do NOT want to parent, or know you are or will be unable to parent in some way (such as being unable to afford it):

Long-acting methods of contraception, like IUDs or the implant, are currently covered by all insurance providers under the stipulations of the Affordable Care Act, whether you have private, group, or subsidized insurance, so if you do not want to become pregnant, and parent, in the next four years, at a minimum, now is the time to go and get those methods. They soon may not be covered, and abortion access has already become very limited before now. It is very likely to become even harder to access soon. If you do not want to use methods like IUDs or implants, but want to get a method now you may be able to use for a few years, ask your healthcare provider about cervical barriers.

Emergency contraception pills have a shelf life of around three years, and are also covered by most health plans and much public health. Stock up if you can, for yourself and/or others.

Find out the names of the abortion providers closest to you currently. In the event abortion services shut down or become even more limited, knowing those names can give you a place to start in seeking that healthcare or help.

the abouts:

Information on this site is provided for educational purposes. It is not meant to and cannot substitute for advice or care provided by an in-person medical professional. The information contained herein is not meant to be used to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease, or for prescribing any medication. You should always consult your own healthcare provider if you have a health problem or medical condition.